


Vee white

by Rowboat129



Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series), Snow White - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death, Deceit Sanders Has a Different Name, Deceit is the evil queen, Fluff, Light Angst, Logan is the huntsman, M/M, Minor Violence, Prinxiety - Freeform, Roman is Prince Charming, Snow White AU, Unsympathetic Deceit Sanders, but it’s the bad guy, patton and Logan are like barely in it, virgil is snow white
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 07:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22292281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowboat129/pseuds/Rowboat129
Summary: Snow WhiteBut with sanders sidesThat’s it
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Prinxiety
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> It’s a Snow White AU! I love Snow White AUs and I couldn’t find many prinxiety Snow White AUs on this site, so I wrote one myself. I hope you enjoy.

Once upon a time, in a far off kingdom, there lived two kings. These two kings were benevolent rulers who loved each other deeply and were loved by all of their people. The kingdom was in a seemingly perpetual state of peace and wealth.

Now, you may ask yourself, how did the kings manage to keep their kingdom so successful? The answer was a mystical artifact held within the castle. This artifact was a magic mirror that could answer any question. It was able to tell the past, the present, and the many possibilities of the future. Whenever the kings were faced with a particularly challenging problem, they would ask the mirror.

The king’s lives were perfect, except for one thing. Being two kings, they were unable to produce an heir. So, once again, they took their query to the mirror. The mirror showed them an orphan boy with snow-white skin and raven black hair. The kings adopted this child as there new heir and finally, everything seemed perfect.

However, their joy did not last. When the young prince (whom they had named Virgil) turned 4, one of the kings fell ill. He barely lasted two weeks before he passed. The kingdom fell into grief at the loss of their beloved king.

Soon enough, the living king, King Thomas, remarried. His groom was a shopkeeper named Dante. His beauty was unrivaled by anyone in town, but it was only skin deep. He was cold and uncaring, only caring about himself and obsessed with appearances. Every day he would waste to mirror’s ability on simple, selfish desires. Every day, he would ask the same question: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” And every day the mirror would simply show him his own reflection.

Dante hogged the mirror to himself and soon the kingdom’s wealth began to decline. Without the mirror’s wisdom, King Thomas could not keep up with all of the kingdom’s problems.

And so this continued for years and years until King Thomas passed away and, not long after, Prince Virgil turned 16, which is where our story begins.


	2. Dante’s Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psych! We’re not starting the main story yet. I wanted to give the evil queen/Deceit more character and more of a motivation, so I wrote this chapter.

Before we continue our story, we must first take a look at Dante’s story. When Dante was younger, around the same age as Virgil, he lived in a small village just on the edge of the kingdom. Even when he was just a boy, his beauty was great. He had friends just like every other teenage boy, and he and his friends made bad decisions sometimes, just like everyone else. They’d run around and climb things that they shouldn’t climb or touch things that they shouldn’t touch or go places that they shouldn’t go. This would sometimes get them in a bit of trouble. This was one of those times.

You see, in Dante’s village, there lived a witch. She kept to herself and stayed in her cottage on most days. The townspeople knew not to bother the witch, for they feared they would be cursed.

Dante and his friends were playing in the park and doing things they shouldn’t, like always. One friend had dared another to lick a tree, another climbed it and sat in the branches. Why someone would want to lick a tree, I do not know, but these boys found it entertaining.

“Hey Dante,” one friend, Dominic, said, getting his friend's attention.

“What,” Dante responded, turning towards Dominic.

“I dare you sneak into that old hags cottage,” he said with a devilish smirk on his face. “Oh, and you have to take something to prove it.”

“Are you crazy? No! I don’t want to be cursed.”

“Sounds to me like someone’s scared,” said the friend in the tree.

“No, I’m not!” That was a lie.

“You’re totally scared!” Dominic said, laughing at his friend.

“No, I’ll do it! It’ll be easy.” Another lie.

So Dante and his friends all went over to the witch's cottage. Dante watched through the window and waited for the witch to go into the back room. He snuck into the house as quietly as he could, but couldn’t stop himself from stepping on a couple of creaky floorboards. He grabbed a spellbook off a shelf and started for the door. But before he could make it, he was stopped by an invisible force. He couldn’t move his feet. It was as if they were welded to the ground. He slowly turned his head and saw the livid face of the witch. Every inch of his body shook with terror. When he glanced out the window where his friends had been watching the scene unfold, he faintly saw three figures running away in the distance. His friends had abandoned him.

“How dare you steal from me,” the witch spoke with a supernatural, deep, echoing voice.

“I-I… it…” Dante couldn’t form words he was so terrified. What if the witch was about to kill him?

“As punishment for stealing from me, you will be cursed! You will become a hideous, cold-blooded creature unable to feel love.” The witch cast her spell in a flash of yellow light. When Dante was able to see again, he looked down at his hands, then at the rest of himself. Nothing seemed to have changed. He realized he could move his feet again and ran away as fast as he could. He got home and vowed never to go near the witch again. What he didn’t see was the witches smirk as he ran away.

He looked at the mirror when he got to his bedroom and saw no change in his appearance. _The witch’s spell must not have worked,_

He thought. Just before he looked away he could have sworn he saw a glint of yellow in his eye, but he dismissed it and went to bed. It had been a long day.

\- - -

When Dante woke up the next day, he first went to change clothes. He was still in the same clothes as yesterday since he hadn’t bothered to change. He then went to the mirror to make sure his appearance was in order. When he looked at his reflection he saw something on his neck. He tried to wipe it off, but it seemed to be embedded into his skin. Upon closer inspection, he could see was it was. It was a single serpentine scale. He felt an itching sensation under his shirt and pulled down the collar to reveal a bit of his chest. Just below his left collarbone was a small patch of snake scales that appeared to be growing upward. Perhaps the witches curse did work. As he realized this his eye flashed yellow for a second again.

Dante assumed that the scales would continue to spread. He rested his hands on a table next to the mirror and tried to think of some way to stop it. As he did, he felt his fingers brush against something. He looked down and say the spellbook he had stolen from the witch. He had no idea why he felt so inclined to take the book, but as he looked at it, and an idea formed in his head. He picked up the book and frantically searched the pages for some solution.

He saw many spells for many occasions, but none seemed to be right for the problem he found himself facing. There were spells for levitation, transformation, and duplication, but not reversing a curse. Then, a little more than halfway through the book, a title caught his eye.

_“Casting and Reversing Curses_

_Casting a curse is much easier than reversing one. A spellcaster must simply have the right magical ability and the intent to harm someone. To cast the curse, the spellcaster must focus their magical energy through their emotions onto the intended target and speak what the curse shall do to the target. (It is best to do this once you’ve already had extensive practice in magic)_

_Reversing a curse is much more challenging. Unless the cure is included in the curse, the only thing that can do it is true love’s kiss. While reversing a curse can be near impossible, postponing or lessening the effect of a curse is much more manageable. The recipient of the curse must simply repress their emotions and perform a monthly ritual, as described below.”_

The book then described a spell that would be cast every full moon to repress the effects of a curse. Dante sighed in relief. He could deal with this.

\- - -

Many years later and Dante had long since left his home village. He had been courted by the recently widowed King Thomas and was set to wed him tomorrow. He did not love King Thomas, but he was a king, and how could you say no to ruling a kingdom. He had been able to slow the effects of the curse just as the book had told him, but he could not stop it completely. He was forced to wear tall collars, long sleeves, and gloves to hide the scales that had grown on his neck and left arm. Despite this, he was still the most beautiful man in town and he intended to keep it that way.

Even though they had not yet wed, Dante had already moved into the palace. On his second day in the palace, King Thomas gave him a grand tour.

“Now this room is a very important room,” Thomas began as he led Dante up the tallest tower in the castle. “This is a well-guarded secret of the royal family. This room holds the secret to our kingdom's wealth.”

Thomas opened the door with a grin. Dante peered into the room with curiosity only to find a round, empty room with a mirror hanging on the far wall. He deflated with disappointment.

“It’s just an empty room,” Dante said with a dull tone.

“No, not at all. Did you not see the mirror,” Thomas said with a cheeky grin. Dante was still confused. “This is not just any mirror,” Thomas continued, “it is a magic mirror. It can answer any question.” Dante was suddenly intrigued. He peered into the mirror, but it was much too murky for him to see anything in it. “Let me demonstrate. Mirror, mirror on the wall, uh, who’s crop will be most successful this year?”

The haze in the mirror began to clear, like thick fog parting to reveal a path, except what this revealed was a farmer plowing a field of wheat. Dante was in awe. He itched to ask it his own question, and as if he could read his mind, Thomas gestured towards the mirror as if offering it to his fiance. Dante approached the mirror and said in a confident voice:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all,” the haze cleared and simply revealed Dante’s reflection and he smiled.

\- - -

Many years later, King Thomas had tragically passed away and Prince Virgil turned sixteen. This is where our story truly begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I promise the main story will start in the next chapter. Also, I will be deviating from the source material a bit.


	3. The Huntsman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we start the main story! I meant to post this on Saturday, but I just totally forgot. I didn’t really know what I was gonna do with Logan and Patton until this chapter. I knew I wanted to include them somewhere, but I didn't know where. They are very small parts that will probably not come back after this chapter, but I wanted to include them.

Virgil wandered around the village just outside of the castle. He liked coming out here because the castle could be so suffocating. Sure, out here there were more things that could hurt him, and usually, he did his best to avoid such situations, but everyone in the village was so kind that Virgil always felt safe with them, especially since it was so close to home.

“Virgil!” The voice made Virgil jump, but when he turned to see what it was it was simply his good friend Patton, who seemed to have tripped over a rock on the ground.

“Patton, are you ok?” Virgil said worriedly - although his voice did hold a hint of amusement - to his clumsy friend.

“Yeah, I’m ok,” he responded, still smiling as he brushed himself off. “As long as the cake is still good.”

“Cake?”

“Oops, it was supposed to be a surprise.” Patton pulled out a small box from his satchel. He handed it to Virgil. The prince opened it and saw a small cake on a piece of waxed parchment. “I know your birthday was two days ago, and I’m sure this will not measure up to any of the fancy treats you got at the castle, but I wanted to make you something anyw-”

Patton was abruptly cut off by Virgil hugging him. “Thank you, Patton. I’m sure it’s amazing.” Patton was the baker’s son, and while he might not be quite as good as his dad yet, he was still great at making sweet treats. Patton fully reciprocated the embrace. The two friends decided to walk through the village together as Virgil snacked on his birthday cake.

\- - -

Back at the palace, Dante, or King Dante, made his way up to the tallest tower in the castle. He gestured for the guard to unlocked the door and headed towards the magic mirror. This was a daily ritual for the king to boost his ego. He confidently stepped in front of the mirror with a smile on his face and spoke in a loud clear voice.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” The haze in the mirror cleared, but instead of showing Dante his reflection as he expected, it showed him a pale boy in the village walking alongside a slightly shorter, freckled boy wearing spectacles. This pale boy was none other than Prince Virgil.

Dante was outraged. How dare this child take his title away from him. Dante was the most beautiful. His looks were the one thing he could rely on throughout these years. In his rage, he felt the skin on his neck itch as a new scale appeared. He was failing to repressed his emotions, allowing the curse to spread faster. So he took several deep breaths. In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. Clear your mind, and more importantly, clear your heart. Once he felt calm he called for the guard outside of the room.

“Summon the huntsman,” he ordered. Dante had decided that if the boy was to surpass him, then he must be eliminated.

A couple of hours later, the huntsman Logan knelt below Dante as he sat on his throne. Logan was known for being cold and unfeeling. He had little in the way of emotion so he showed no remorse for his victims, even if his victims were usually animals.

“Logan, I have a task for you,” Dante said, looking down his nose at the huntsman.

“Yes, my king,” Logan said, still on his knee.

“I need you to kill Prince Virgil.”

“Might I ask why, my king?” Logan asked, expression still blank.

“That is not of your concern,” Dante responded, “Now go, and bring me back his heart.”

Now, to most onlookers, it would appear that Logan’s face stayed completely blank throughout this entire interaction. However, if you looked very closely, you could see a flicker of doubt on his face at Dante’s last request. Nonetheless, he grabbed his bow, a quiver of arrows, and a carving knife, and headed into town to hunt the crowned prince of the kingdom.

\- - -

Patton and Virgil wandered through the village, and without realizing it, had wandered just outside of the village wall in towards the forest. They chatted about their daily lives. Patton recounted how he had recently spilled an entire bag of flour and his father had helped him clean up. Virgil told Patton how he had visited his father’s grave almost every day. But he was cut off when an arrow flew past him, only a couple inches from his face, and lodged itself into a tree. Virgil’s heartbeat skyrocketed and he immediately went into fight-or-flight. He ran away, not looking where he was going, and only paused when he heard Patton calling his name.

“Virgil! Where are you going?!” he screamed at his royal friend. He had reluctantly followed his friend but was still several feet behind him. “The town is this way!” He pointed behind himself. Virgil paused, but this turned out to be a mistake. He felt a jolt of pain in his left leg and looked down to see an arrow lodged in his thigh. This was followed by another arrow flying past his head. His friend gasped and looked on helplessly as Virgil continued into the forest. Patton decided he should get to the village to get help.

Virgil stumbled through the forest, fearing for his life. He tripped on a large rock and was unable to get up do to his injured leg. He looked up to see a dark figure approaching him. He could hear his thudding heartbeat. _I’m going to die here, oh my god, I’m gonna die_ , the thought repeated over and over in his head. The thought was only solidified when the figure took out a shiny carving knife. His face was completely emotionless. Virgil hadn’t even realized but his eyes had been leaking tears.

\- - -

Logan looked down at his supposed victim. He was visibly shaking in fear. His face was filled with pure terror. The prince had not done anything wrong, not that Logan was aware of anyways, yet the king still ordered him killed. It seemed illogical to Logan. And, for the first time in a very long time, he actually felt something. Guilt. He could not carry out his orders. He could not kill Prince Virgil.

So he dropped his carving knife by his feet and turned to leave. Before he walked away, without turning his head, he said to the prince, “You’re going to want to take that knife. There are many threats that could hurt you in this forest.” And with that, he walked away.

He shot a deer on his way out and carved out its heart to present to the king. When the deer’s heart was presented to Dante as Prince Virgil’s, he carefully took it in his gloved hands and admired it as if it was a sparkling ruby. He smiled and thanked Logan for his service.

\- - -

Virgil stared at the knife that the huntsman had left him. Why had the man spared him? Why was he after him in the first place. He carefully grabbed the knife by its handle and examined it. It shined in the sun that made it through the canopy of trees above him. He slid it in his belt. Virgil obviously could not go back to the kingdom. It was dangerous, someone had just tried to kill him, and he had a hunch that they wouldn’t stop if he went back. 

He attempted to stand but felt a searing pain in his left thigh. He looked down and saw the arrow still lodged in his leg. He gently pulled on it but the pain in his leg only grew when he did so. His grey pants were stained crimson with blood. He knew he had to get the arrow out eventually, so he took a deep breath, grabbed the arrow and pulled it out at fast as he could. He screamed in pain, but once the arrow was out he had another problem to deal with. His leg started bleeding at a more rapid pace. He had never been trained in first aid so he did not know what to do. He pressed his hand on the wound to do what he could to slow the bleeding and looked around for a solution.

He glimpsed what looked like a small cottage in the distance. He used all the strength he had to pull himself up onto his feet. He limped over to the cottage, every step on his left leg being agony. He reached the cottage and knocked on the door.

“Hello?” he said in a raspy voice. No one answered. It seemed the residents were absent, and the door just happened to he unlocked. He knew it would be wrong to go in, but he didn’t know what else he could do. He pushed open the door and saw seven chairs arranged carefully around a fireplace. In the next room was a small stove and a washbowl, and a long dining table. Up a small set of stairs was a room of seven beds all in a neat row. Virgil collapsed on one of the beds, attempted to wrap his leg using the end of his black cloak and fell into a deep sleep.


	4. The Belt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in the original fairytale, the evil queen tries to kill Snow White 4 ways. I wanted to include all 4 just because I thought it would be interesting and it would give Virgil and Roman more of a chance to bond. So here we go, murder attempt #2.

Sloane, Corbin, Dot, Larry, Elliot, Kai, and Doc marched through the forest back to their cottage. It was a hard day’s work at the mines that day. Kai couldn’t do much of the work thanks to their disability, and Doc was busy trying to help Dot and Larry through their relationship problems that Larry insisted were non-existent. Like I said, a hard day’s work all around. They were all looking forward to getting home and taking a long nap when they got home.

Doc, being in the front, opened the door and held it open for everyone else to make their way through. They all made their way upstairs to their beds.

“Hey, there’s someone in my bed!” Elliot shouted from upstairs. Everyone rushed upstairs and crowded around Elliot's bed. Sure enough, there was someone lying in their bed. It was a boy with pitch-black hair, a deep, purple shirt, and frighteningly pale skin. It was almost a sickly color. He almost looked dead.

“Doc, is he okay?” Dot asked with concern. Doc felt for a pulse. It was weak but there. He also looked at the boy's left leg, which was wrapped in a pitch-black cloak. It looked wet. He touched the fabric and his fingertips came away red. He had been bleeding, probably for quite a while.

“Sloane, get the bandages and water,” Doc said. Sloane went downstairs and came back with a roll of bandages and a jug of clean water. “Everyone, you can take a nap if you would like. Elliot, feel free to use my bed.” Doc unwrapped the boy's leg and began to rinse the wound and wrap wit with bandages.

“Doc-” Elliot began.

“It’s ok, I can handle this,” Doc said, smiling to comfort the nervous person. Elliot gave a small smile in response and headed downstairs and sat in his seat by the fireplace.

\- - -

Virgil started to wake up. How long had he been asleep? He couldn’t remember what had happened the day before. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar room and a stranger wearing spectacles and a bright pink tie looking down on him with a worried expression. His eyes lit up when he saw Virgil stir.

“He’s awake!” the man said. Six more people came up and crowded around the bed. Virgil tried to scoot backward but hit a wall.  _ Where am I? Who are these people? How did I get here? _ These and many other questions passed through Virgil’s head in the span of about two seconds, but he couldn’t seem to get any to come out of his mouth.

“How are you feeling?” The man in glasses asked.

“W-Who are you?” Virgil demanded, voice shaky.

“Oh, of course. My name is Emile Picani, but everyone just calls me Doc. At this is Sloane, Corbin, Dot, Larry, Elliot, and Kai,” the man, Emile, said and pointed to each person as he said their name.

“O-ok,” Virgil said, not relaxing in the slightest. “Where am I?”

“You’re in my bed,” Elliot said, slightly frustrated. Virgil looked down at the bed he was lying in, also seeing his leg wrapped in bandages. He then remembered what had happened before. He had been chased by a huntsman but was spared for some reason he did not know. He had found this cottage in the woods and fell asleep in their bed. He blushed from shame when he realized he had broken into these people’s house.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Sorry? What are you sorry for,” Emile responded.

“Well… I broke into your house,” Virgil responded in confusion. What was there not to be sorry for?

“You were injured, I’m a doctor. Why, if I didn’t welcome a patient in need, what kind of doctor would I be?”

“Isn’t he more of a psychiatrist?” Corbin said quietly to Sloane.

“Shhh, just go with it,” Sloane whispered back. (This is the author's way of saying the same thing to their audience, who may or may not be asking the same question to themselves.)

“Th-thank you,” Virgil said, relaxing just a bit. He tried to stand up but flinched when he moved his leg.

“You should probably rest for a day or so,” Emile told him. Elliot looked like they were about to protest, but Emile said, “Elliot, you can use my bed,” before they could say anything. Virgil was dumbfounded. This had to be the most surreal thing to ever happen to him. He had almost died, limped his way through the forest and broke into these people’s house, and they welcomed him and helped him recover. These people had to be some of the kindest he had ever met. A soft smile found its way onto his lips and he finally relaxed.

\- - -

After Logan gave “Virgil’s” heart to Dante, he put it in a chest next to the mirror. Then he looked in the mirror with a confident smile and said: 

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all.” But to the king’s dismay, the mirror once again showed him the image of Prince Virgil. He slept peacefully in a bed, with the only injuries seeming to be a few scrapes and a wound in his leg. He fumed with rage. The boy was meant to be dead! He had his heart! King Dante was so enraged that the chest holding the heart burst into flames. He felt an itching sensation on his neck, as the scales crept up to his face, barely reaching his jawline. He took a deep breath.

“Guards, find the huntsman, and when you do, kill him on sight.” It seemed Dante would have to do this on his own.

\- - -

A few days later, Virgil had nearly completely healed. He could walk around easily and all that was left of the wound was a scar. He had begun to grow accustomed to living with the seven miners. When they were out to work, he would help clean the house. He even had his own cot to sleep on. The miners had also grown to appreciate Virgil’s presence. It was very nice to come home to a clean house, and Virgil helped to cook them meals when they were too tired or if they were just not good at cooking, which they weren’t.

When he was feeling well enough, he even decided to go to the village on the other side of the forest to get some fresh produce or maybe even some baked goods. Of course, he asked if he could use the miner’s money beforehand, he was no thief.

He wandered out to the market with a basket he had made when he was just sitting around the cottage. He wore his cloak so he wouldn’t be recognized since he still had the feeling someone was out to get him. The market was incredibly lively. People on every side of you, advertising whatever they were selling. He smelled freshly baked bread on his left and flowers on his right. He had never seen the market by the castle so lively except maybe before his father had gotten sick and Dante had taken duty as the king. Just in front of him was a young woman selling belts.

“You there, young man, could I interest you in a beautiful belt to match that beautiful cloak of yours?” the woman asked him. He was caught off guard a bit by being addressed directly.

“Oh, no thank you, I don’t need a belt,” Virgil responded.

“Why not try one on at least,” the woman responded. She was being very persistent.

“No, really, I don’t need it.”

“Please, no charge, just try one.” It seemed the only way Virgil could get the woman to back down was to try on a belt, so he reluctantly obliged. She wrapped a belt around his waist and began to fasten it. Virgil had to admit it was a pretty belt, but as the woman fastened it, she kept pulling it tighter and tighter.

“Um, Ma'am, that’s a little tight,” Virgil choked out, but she kept pulling it tighter. He was struggling to breathe as he felt it cut into his abdomen. He felt light-headed and his vision began to spot. Before he knew it, everything went black. When he could see again, he was on the ground gasping for breath with Sloane and Corbin looking down at him worriedly. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” Corbin said bluntly.

“What, why?”

“Well, we were all worried when he got back home and you weren’t there,” Sloane began, “so Corbin and I came back here to make sure you were ok, and we found you passed out on the ground wearing a belt that was much too tight, and you were barely breathing, so we had to take the belt off and-”

“Sloane, I think he gets the point,” Corbin cut him off by putting a hand on his shoulder. Virgil just looked down with a blank face. Someone was clearly out to get him, but why, and more importantly, who. He walked home with Sloane and Corbin trying to think of why someone would want to kill him, and worrying about what they might try next.

\- - -

Dante watched the scene unfold from the sidelines. He was still wearing the disguise of the young saleswoman, but it was only an illusion. If you were to see his reflection, you’d have seen who he truly was. He watched as two men came up to his victim and frantically tried to unbuckle the belt, but could not. He smirked at his own cleverness. It was a simple spell, but it made it impossible to undo the belt. But then, the man with the dark skin pulls out a small pocket-sized dagger and cuts the belt off. How dare they undermine him. He felt a fire inside him bubbling and an itching sensation on his cheek. He really had to keep his emotions in check.

The men walked away with the prince and Dante grabbed his spellbook from the stool behind his stand and flipped through it looking for his next plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that chapter, I was going to introduce roman in this chapter, but I didn't think it really fit, so I left it for the next chapter.


	5. The Comb

Virgil was afraid to leave the house after the incident in the village. If he thought someone was after him before, now he was sure of it. He did eventually have to leave to get food, but instead of going to the village like before, he wandered through the forest, looking for nuts and berries and such. Sure, it would be harder to find as much, but he felt safer somehow. Besides, he had the animal as company.

He didn’t expect to meet anyone in the forest, but not far from where he walked, he heard a deep, melodious voice sing a soft tune. The voice was mesmerizing, and without even realizing it, his feet had taken him just outside of the clearing where a beautiful man stood. He was filling his flask in the pond as he hummed a simple tune. Virgil took a tentative step forward and stepped on a twig. The man looked toward the sound and Virgil jumped behind a tree.

“Is anyone there?” He asked the air. Virgil took several deep breaths and tentatively peaked his head out from the other side of the tree, but the man was not there. Virgil tilted his head in confusion.

“Hello,” came a voice from behind him. He jumped a foot in the air and turned to see the man coming around the other side of the tree. He laughed, and what a lovely laugh it was. “You’re quit the jumpy one aren’t you.” Virgil didn’t answer, he just stood there like a deer in headlights (whatever those are). “Do you speak?”

“Y-yes,” Virgil stuttered in response.

“He talks, it’s a miracle.” He laughed once more. “I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone else in the woods today. What would a nice young man such as yourself be doing this deep into the forest?”

“I c-could ask you the same question.”

“I asked you first.”

“And I asked you second.” The man smiled, and that smile was truly radiant.

“Just on a hunting trip. Now it’s your turn.”

“Well, I actually live here.” The man gave him a surprised look. “I live in a cottage not to far from here,” Virgil elaborated, pointing in the direction of the miner’s cottage. The man raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“You live here all alone?”

“Oh, I’m not alone. I have, uh, roommates. It’s kind of complicated.”

“Well I’d love to know more. I’m Roman by the way.” He held out his hand for Virgil to shake, which he did. There was a short awkward silence. “And your name?”

“Oh, it’s V-” Virgil paused. If someone was after him, he should probably keep his identity secret, shouldn’t he? “Vee, you can call me Vee.”

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you Vee.” The two talked for a long time after that. Only when Roman looked up and saw that the sun was much further in the sky did he say he had to go. “Farewell, I hope we meet again soon.”

“Yeah, me too!” Virgil responded as Roman went back into the clearing to mount a majestic white horse that Virgil hadn’t noticed till then. He started wandering back towards the cottage with a smile on his face.

On his way back, he was stopped by a young man pushing along a cart.

“Excuse me, but would you mind pointing me in the direction of the village, I seem to be a bit lost.” Virgil’s heart began to beat just a tiny bit faster. His instincts told him to go to the cottage, but another part of him told he shouldn’t leave this poor man defenseless in the forest, so despite his better judgement, he stopped and gave the man directions.

“Thank you.” He reaches into his cart and pulled out a sparkling, silver comb. “Here, take this as thanks.” Virgil reluctantly look the comb and gave the man a quick thanks then went back to the cottage.

When he got inside, he sat down and admired the comb. It really was beautiful craftsmanship, and it was a very nice gift.  _ I mean, it couldn’t hurt to try it on, could it? _ Virgil thought. So he slipped the comb into his hair, and all of a sudden he felt extremely tired. His eyelids felt heavy and he could barely stay upright. It wasn’t long before he fell into a deep sleep.

\- - -

The miners came home after a hard day’s work, or at least as hard as they worked on any other day. When they did, they saw Virgil collapsed onto the ground. They crowded around him worriedly, but they could still see his chest rise and fall as he breathed, so he was just sleeping. Yet whatever they did to try and wake him up, nothing seemed to work. They shook him, they made loud noises. Dot even tried tickling him. Nothing would wake him up.

They were at a loss for what to do. Kai suggested they just carry him to his cot and wait till he wakes up. Everyone agreed that that was the best idea and Larry and Corbin went to pick him up, something shiny fell out of his hair. It was a beautiful comb. When it clattered to the ground, Virgil’s eyes blinked open. He groaned and, surprised, Corbin and and Larry dropped him.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, you just startled us,” Corbin said as he went to help Virgil get up.

“Why were you asleep on the ground?” Larry asked.

“I don’t know. When I got here I just got super tired all of a sudden. I guess I must have passed out or something.” Virgil was just as confused as everyone else, if not more, but everyone decided to just move on and have dinner. That was when Virgil realized he had been so distracted talking to Roman, that he hadn’t collected much food.

\- - -

  
Dante was livid. He stared into the mirror and saw a very alive and very awake Virgil laughing with friends by a fireplace. His cheek was burning as he furiously scratched at the growing patch of scales. His eye flickered yellow for a second longer than normal.  _ Why won’t this boy just die?! _ He went to the dungeons and locked himself away. “I will end this boy if it is the last thing I do!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it just me, or is the writing getting worse the more I write this story?


	6. The Apple

Vee and Roman had been spending a lot of time together. After that first meeting, they both went back to that clearing hoping to see each other again, and they did. They had made a habit of visiting that clearing everyday and had grown quite close in just a few days. He would always come home with a bright smile, humming a happy tune.

Roman had to travel a little farther to get back to where he was staying. The house wasn’t quite as big as the castle he lived in, but it was still quite sizeable. Roman was actually a visiting prince from a nearby kingdom. He and his aging father had come to meet with the king. They had been rather close with King Thomas, but they did not know the new king, and they came to work out an alliance and trading deals.

Roman rode his horse to one of the few stables by the large house they staying and went inside. He had gotten home a little later that day than he usually did, so after changing out of his hunting clothes, he went straight to the dining hall for dinner. His father was there before him.

“Roman, how kind of you to show up.”

“Hello father,” Roman responded as he took a seat across from his father.

“Where have you been?”

“I was just out hunting father, no need to worry.”

“You know that you can’t just wander off who knows where every day, you have responsibilities.”

“I know, father.”

“We cannot have the king think the heir to our kingdom is incompetent.”

“I know, father.”

“You're growing up to be a leader Roman, your going to have to start acting like it-”

“I not very hungry,” Roman said abruptly, “I think I’m just going to go back to my quarters.” He stood up and started to head towards the stairs.

“Roman, where are you going?” Roman ignored his father and went to his room. He knew that he was going to be king, but what’s wrong with living a little before that time came. Besides, how else would he talk to Vee?

\- - -

Back at the castle, Dante locked himself in the laboratory in the dungeons. He stirred a bubbling cauldron with a sickeningly sweet stench wafting off of it. He left the cauldron aside for a moment and picked up a single apple that sat next to his open spellbook. He carefully dipped the Apple in the cauldron. The stench of burnt caramel violated every corner of the room.

Dante grinned devilishly as he took the apple out of the cauldron. The yellow liquid dripped off the apple as he placed it in a basket filled with nearly identical fruit.

\- - -

The next day, it was bright and sunny. It was actually quite a beautiful day. The sunlight danced through the canopy of trees and painted patterns of shadow onto the ground. It was mid-afternoon and Virgil wandered back to the cottage from the clearing. He had just met with Roman. Wonderful, beautiful Roman. He couldn’t help but hum a little tune as his heart swelled thinking about the handsome hunter. He closed the door and set his basket filled with nuts and fruits on the table. Recently Roman had caught him a squirrel, but it didn’t last long before it had been devoured.

As he sat down there was a soft knock on the door. That’s strange, Virgil thought, the miners never knock. And even if they did, it’s too early for them to be coming home. He felt his heart pick up speed as he imagined all of the things that could be behind that door. They knocked again. It didn’t seem they were going away anytime soon, so Virgil tentatively got up and opened the door just a smidge.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Why hello dear,” responded the hunch-backed old lady behind the door. “I couldn’t help but notice your adorable little cottage and just wanted to stop by and say hello.”

“Well hello,” Virgil responded and started to inch to the door closed, but was interrupted by the old woman.

“And I wanted to give you something, as a sort of welcome gift of sorts.” Virgil couldn’t help but be curious, so he opened the door a bit wider. He saw the old lady holding a basket of shiny apples. The woman picked one particularly pretty apple and held it out towards Virgil. There was something about the old woman made him nervous. He couldn’t quite place it, but it made him incredibly suspicious of the apple she tried to give him.

“Thank you, but I don’t need anything,” Virgil said.

“Please, I insist.” The old woman held the apple up to Virgil’s face. The light glistening off the skin of the fruit was almost hypnotic. He felt a sudden urge to take the apple that he didn’t quite understand. His mind was practically screaming at him not to do it, but he didn’t listen.

So, against his better judgment, he took the apple. He took a large bite out of it. It was sickeningly sweet, but it left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He started to feel a bit dizzy. I pain spread in his stomach and he started coughing. The coughing turned to choking as the world spun around him. He didn’t remember falling, but he was on his back as the world faded to black. The last thing he saw was two eyes staring down at him. One deep brown and the other shining with a bright yellow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is shorter the others, but I kinda wanted to leave of a cliffhanger (even though everyone knows what happens at the end)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the last chapter unless I decide to write an epilogue, which I probably won’t. There's a little bit of violence at the end of the chapter, so be warned. Also, I don’t know how to write fight scenes. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Dante smiled as he watched the light drain from Virgil’s eyes. He had learned from his mistakes before and waited for those meddling miners to come back to make sure they didn’t disrupt his plans again. He was behind a tree-like the little goblin he is and waited.

\- - -

Roman went to the woods to clear his head, despite his father’s objections. Actually his father hadn’t said anything… because he didn’t know Roman was gone, but the prince imagined that his father would have objected if he did know. But either way, Roman was in the forest now. He knew he would have left eventually, how else would he be able to see his precious Vee?

He wandered the all too familiar path to the all too familiar clearing. His friend wasn’t there quite yet, but that was no problem. Roman had shown up before him many times before. He would simply have to wait. So he waited, and waited, and waited. The more he waited the more worried he became. They always met here, what could be different today. Eventually, he decided to wander away from the clearing and in the direction he remembered Vee mentioned that he lived. He didn’t have to travel far before he saw a quaint cottage nestled between a few trees. But something was off. There was a crowd around the front of the house and they looked… sad. In fact, Roman swore he could hear a few of them crying. His worry became more intense.

As he got closer he could see what they were crowding around. In the arms of a weeping man with glasses and a pink tie was the unmistakable form of Vee, limp and lifeless on the ground. Roman’s heart dropped. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes.  _ How could this have happened? Vee  _ can’t _ be dead _ , he thought to himself,  _ I never got to tell him- _ . He rushed over to Vee’s limp body, startling the crowd of people around him.

“Who are you?!” one of the smaller people in the group demanded. They had bright, unnaturally colored hair.

“Please, I just want to see him,” Roman said as he tried to get passed them to see the boy he had grown so very fond of.

“How do you know Virgil?” the dark-skinned one asked with a skeptical look on his face. Roman paused for a second.  _ Virgil? But his name is Vee. _ He regained his composure as best he could and in the most confident voice he could muster he said-

“My name is Prince Roman of the South Kingdom, and I demanded to see Vee.” The dark-skinned man and the man in the tie shared a look before the latter nodded and the group let Roman through. Roman tenderly held Vee in his arms. His tears fell from his chin onto the limp boy’s cheek. “I’m so sorry,” Roman whispered. “I never got the chance to tell you how much I care for you. I never even told you who I really was.”

Vee’s skin felt so cold. His face was even paler than usual. Roman lifted his face up and placed a tender kiss on Vee’s lips as a farewell to the love he never had.

Then, a miracle happened. Vee’s eyes fluttered open and a pink flush rushed to his face. His heart began to beat again and he looked around him with confusion in his eyes.

“What happened?” he asked as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Roman was pushed to the side as the energetic, brown-haired man tackled him into a hug.

“VIRGIL! You’re okay!!” he yelled. The group's tears of sadness were replaced with tears of joy. Vee couldn’t help the soft, confused smile that graced his lips. As he gazed at the beaming crowd around him, his eyes stopped when they fell on Roman.

“R-roman?!What are you doing here?” he stuttered as he attempted to compose himself.

“I… um…” Roman struggled to form a coherent sentence as he looked at the deep, brown, doe eyes that Vee was looking at him with. “You didn’t come to the clearing today, and I remembered you mentioning that you lived here.” Vee looked around at the group surrounding him.

“Um, could we have a moment?” he asked the group. The man in the pink tie nodded and told him to take his time. Vee led Roman towards the clearing. “I, um… I think I should tell you something.”

“I also need to tell you something. I’m not just a simple hunter. I am actually the prince of the Southern Kingdom. My father and I came to meet with the new king, but I never expected to find someone like you. I never told you in all of the time I’ve known you, but I love you, Vee. I really do.” As Roman finished, there were tears in his eyes. Vee looked almost guilty when Roman finished. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finding the words to respond.

“I love you too Roman,” he said as a few tears of his own slipped out of his eyes, “but I’m not who you think I am. My name is not really Vee. I am Prince Virgil. I didn’t tell you because I think someone wants me dead, and I -” Virgil was cut off by another voice from somewhere he couldn’t see.

“How clever of you Virgil, you figured it out.” From the shade of a tree emerged a man, though you could hardly call him that. Half of his face was that of a snake, covered in green scales with a slitted yellow eye. His sinister grin held a single fang on the snake half of his face. He was hideous, and yet something about him felt familiar to Virgil, something that he couldn't quite place. He scratched at the scales on his face as he stalked ever closer to the pair. “You know, you’re quite resilient Virgil. No matter how many times I try to kill you, you always seem to get back up.”

“Wh-who are y-you?’ Virgil asked in a trembling voice.

“You don’t recognize me, Virgil? Well, I’m insulted. You mean you don’t recognize your own step-father?”

“Dante?!” He finally recognized what was so familiar. The porcelain skin and brown eye on the human side of his face was unmistakable.

“That’s the king?!” Roman remarked in a shocked voice.

“Why so surprised,  _ Prince Roman _ ? Did you expect the fairest in the land? Oh, no, that’s  _ Virgil  _ now,” Dante spit out the name like it was poison. “But it won’t be for long. I suppose I can’t rely on magic for everything. Sometimes I just have to do it myself.” He pulled out a knife from a sheath on his belt and charged towards Virgil with a manic grin on his face.

Roman rushed to protect the man he loved, unsheathing his own weapon to block the attack. As Dante’s knife clashed with Roman’s sword, the crazed smile on his face only grew wider.

“Oh, so we want to do this the hard way, do we? Well, I’m happy to oblige.” Dante spun around Roman to face his target, but just narrowly avoided a swing from Roman’s sword. This dance continued for a while, Dante avoiding attacks from Roman trying to get to Virgil and Roman getting in the way before he got the chance.

Eventually, Dante got right between Roman and Virgil. His face twisted somewhere between a grin and a grimace. He raised his blade, ready to make the fatal strike, then stopped. He looked down to see a sword going straight through his gut. And rather than scream or curse like you would expect him to, he laughed. He simply laughed as the blood-stained his coat. Laughed at he fell to his knees. He laughed and laughed until there was no air left and the light drained from his eyes.

Roman only stared in horror at what he had done. “Oh my god,” he muttered. “I just killed the king.” Virgil didn’t make a sound. He didn’t think he could if tried. When he found himself able to move, he caught Roman in a tight embrace.

The sudden contact startled the Prince, but after the initial shock, he fully reciprocated the gesture. “Thank you,” Virgil whispered. After a moment Roman responded. 

“I love you,” he said.

The hug lingered for a while. They both found themselves crying. It wasn’t because they were sad, but they weren’t quite happy either. When they finally separated, Virgil wiped his eyes and took a deep breath.

“We should probably go back to the house and tell everyone I’m okay.”

And so they did. They explained everything that happened and Virgil was met with several hug attacks. The next day Roman explained everything to his father, who was probably not as mad as he should have been. Not long after, Roman and Virgil were married, merging their kingdoms and bringing peace and happiness to their people.

And they both lived happily ever after

The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I’m not super crazy about how this last chapter turned out, but it’s fine. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a critique in the comments below.


End file.
